Faith-Fueled Confrontation Turns Fatal When Woman Rebukes Officer ‘In the Name of Jesus’
- Milton Quintanilla Crosswalk Headlines Contributor
- Updated Jul 26, 2024
The father of 36-year-old Sonya Massey, who was recently shot dead by a sheriff’s deputy in Springfield, Illinois, after she rebuked him in Jesus’ name, called the officer an “emissary of Satan.” According to The Christian Post, the shooting took place following Massey’s call to police concerning an intruder outside her home on July 6. Body cam footage shows Massey talking with Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson before the conversation became tense after Grayson asked Massey to check on a boiling pot on her stove.
“We don’t need a fire while we’re here,” he says.
However, as she removed the boiling pot from the stove and moved it to the sink, the officers backed away from her, and she asked them, “Where are you going?”
“Oh, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Massey shoots back. “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson threatened her to stop, or else he would shoot.
“OK. I apologize,” she said as the officers ordered her to drop the pot.
Although Massey is holding the pot next to the running faucet in her sink, she takes her hands off the pot while still wearing what appeared to be mittens in her hand, according to body-cam footage. She proceeds to crouch in a defensive position with her hands over her ears as if expecting gunfire.
Grayson can be heard yelling at her with his gun drawn, firing several shots.
The deputy officer can be heard on video saying he shot Massey in the head and that she was likely dead. He also implies that providing her medical attention wouldn’t make sense.
Although Grayson tells another law enforcement figure that “she had boiling water and came at me with boiling water” and “was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus,” the video footage refutes his claim that Massey came at him with the boiling pot of water.
“He actually walks around the counter and engages to get a better shot, and that’s what the state attorney’s investigation found, that he actually engaged her,” civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump told CBS. “He could have done so many things to not shoot her in the face. He could have backed up. He could have used a Taser.”
In a statement released Monday, Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell called the shooting “unjustifiable and reckless.”
“Sonya Massey lost her life due to an unjustifiable and reckless decision by former Deputy Sean Grayson,” Campbell said. “Grayson had other options available that he should have used. His actions were inexcusable and do not reflect the values or training of our office,” he added. “He will now face judgment by the criminal justice system and will never again work in law enforcement. Ms. Massey needlessly lost her life, and her family deserves answers. I trust the legal process will provide them.”
Grayson was indicted by a grand jury on July 17 and was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct.
Massey leaves behind two children and was one of four daughters.
WATCH: Family wants Sangamon County, Illinois sheriff fired after Sonya Massey shooting | CBS Chicago
Photo Credit:©YouTube/CBS News; Sangamon County Sheriff's Office
